Michael Nyman Photography

Annie Leibovitz has been one of my favorite photographers (one of my five hard drives, all named after prominent photographers, is named ‘Leibovitz’) ever since seeing a gallery of her celebrity portraits at the Chicago Cultural Center in 1994. I had not heard of her at that time, though I certainly recognized many of the photographs at the showing. This photo of Barack Obama on the campaign trail was taken by her for Men’s Vogue magazine.

Visit Liebovitz’s Barack Obama slideshow.

This is an outtake from a setup and exposure check during a shoot for a new project I’m working on called “Psalter and Light.” This particular shoot was for Psalm 137, in which the exiles call out to God asking him to bash the Babylonians’ babies against the rocks.

To purchase limited edition prints of this and other photographs in the “Something…” series, visit the gallery.

The Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. 306.5 feet tall, with the awesome power to make one feel incredibly small and insignificant.

To purchase limited edition prints of this and other photographs in the “Something…” series, visit the gallery.

Across from Elm Park.

To purchase limited edition prints of this and other photographs in the “Something…” series, visit the gallery.

My top picks from Emily’s senior portraits are now available for viewing.

I was reminded of the infamous photograph of the Marion, Indiana lynching of Tom Shipp and Abe Smith while viewing Vanity Fair’s online article of The 25 Best News Photographs. As if the two men hanging in the trees is not horrific enough, the casual nature of the white people in the foreground pushes this photograph into new territory. I would hope that we are horrified by this picture, but I would also hope that we not simply relegate these barbaric acts to an older time and another place. Though we no longer have the same degree of racism in the average person today (as is evident in what will hopefully happen next Tuesday), such racial hatred still exists. And even if we think of ourselves as being beyond the racism of the past centuries, we would do well to ask ourselves about the blind spots that we may currently hold. As a professing Christian, I look at this photo and am appalled that the people who almost certainly went to church on the Sunday before could participate in such acts. What to me appears with historical hindsight as obviously wrong seemed to them a perfectly reasonable chain of events. Tom Shipp and Abe Smith were not people to them, but animals with no rights. There are a number of places around the country that are in the process of voting about the rights of other citizens, and many of them will be voting to limit those rights based on religious conviction. Pictures like these are a reminder to me how short sighted we all tend to be. If only we were able to live our lives with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
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My top picks from Kyla’s senior portraits are now available for viewing.

I’ve never thought much about ceilings, but I am glad that the new coffee shop at the old Tatnuck Bookstore building retained the character of the historic building.

To purchase limited edition prints of this and other photographs in the “Something…” series, visit the gallery.